Heroes of the Dorm™ Leads Tespa's College Esports Lineup in 2018

Signups now open for college esports tournaments featuring Blizzard
Entertainment's Heroes of the Storm®, Hearthstone®, and StarCraft® II

This year's programs offer more opportunities—and scholarships—for
college gamers across U.S. and Canada than ever before

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Student gamers everywhere can now matriculate in a full schedule of
college esports programs, as Tespa, Blizzard Entertainment's college
esports network, has revealed its lineup of tournaments and events for
this year, including the fourth edition of Heroes of the Dorm™. With
programs for Hearthstone® and StarCraft® II in addition to Heroes of the
Storm®, Tespa will award more than $1 million in scholarships and
prizing by the end of the 2017-18 academic year.

Now in its fourth year, Heroes of the Dorm is introducing regional play.
More than $500,000 in scholarships and prizes are up for grabs in this
premier collegiate esports competition. Regional winners and other top
teams on the national leaderboard will be seeded into the 64-team
National Championship bracket. The battle for the Heroes of the Dorm
National Championship—and for the scholarship money each player receives
for the remainder of their college careers—will be fierce. Fans can
watch all the action on both www.twitch.tv/blizzheroes
and www.mlg.com.

In a one-of-a-kind broadcast partnership with Raycom Sports, Heroes of
the Dorm will have a dedicated, nationally-syndicated program during a
five-week period of competition. Raycom will produce the weekly,
one-hour Heroes of the Dorm program, featuring schools competing in the
tournament's Atlantic Coast Region. The original series, which will
cover competition as well as spotlight player and team stories, will be
broadcast across Raycom Sports' syndicated network of affiliates in more
than 50 markets in the United States.

"With intense student competition and an epic tournament bracket
featuring schools across the United States and Canada, Heroes of the
Dorm showcases the kind of excitement that can only come from college
esports," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard
Entertainment. "We look forward to cheering on all of the talented
players who will be competing in Heroes of the Storm, as well as
Hearthstone and StarCraft II, for their share of Tespa's biggest
scholarship prize pool ever."

Starting today, eligible college gamers in the United States and Canada
can sign up to compete in Heroes of the Dorm at www.heroesofthedorm.com.
See the full schedule below:

Tournament Stage

Date

Registration Opens

January 22

Registration Closes

February 5

Regional Play Begins

February 6

Live Broadcasts Begin

February 14

Regional Championships

March 11

Bracket Reveal

March 19

Round of 64 Begins

March 28

Heroic Four/Finals

April/May

Hearthstone Collegiate Championship

Teams vying for the 2018 Hearthstone Collegiate Championship will have
their hands full as they battle for their share of $150,000 in
scholarship prizing. Each team of three will have to battle through a
seven-week regular season and the regional playoffs to make it to the
single-elimination championship bracket. Fans can watch the tournament
live on www.twitch.tv/playhearthstone.

Eligible college gamers in the United States and Canada can sign up to
compete in the Hearthstone Collegiate Championship at compete.tespa.org
starting today. See the full schedule below:

Tournament Stage

Date

Registration Opens

January 22

Registration Closes

February 15

Matches Begin

February 19

Tespa Collegiate Series—StarCraft

The first ever Tespa Collegiate Series—StarCraft will award $35,000 in
total scholarship prizing to the top performers in the 16-team league.
Teams of three players will battle it out in StarCraft II twice a week
during the eight-week regular season, with four teams joining the
tournament via the open qualifiers. Matches will be broadcast on www.twitch.tv/starcraft
and www.mlg.com.
Eligible college gamers in the United States and Canada can sign up for
qualifiers at compete.tespa.org
starting today. See the full schedule below:

Tournament Stage

Date

Registration Opens

January 22

Qualifier 1

February 10

Qualifier 2

February 11

Matches Begin

February 17

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®,
Overwatch®, the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®
franchises, and the multi-franchise Heroes of the Storm®,
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com),
a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer
and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of
the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's
track record includes twenty-one #1 games* and multiple Game of the Year
awards. The company's online-gaming service, Blizzard Battle.net®, is
one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.

*Sales and/or downloads, based on internal company records and reports
from key distribution partners.

About Tespa

Tespa is the premier college gaming network in North America, dedicated
to creating a home for gamers on every campus. Recognized as the leader
in college esports, Tespa cultivates student communities that host epic
gaming events on campuses in the United States and Canada, and plans to
distribute more than $1 million in scholarship prizing in 2018 through
intercollegiate leagues. Tespa has had more than 5000 teams from more
than 1400 universities compete in its college tournaments and has
empowered student leaders to become entrepreneurs in the gaming industry.

About Raycom Sports

Charlotte, N.C.-based Raycom Sports is a leader for compelling
storytelling, production, and content distribution across all platforms.
With an award-winning production team, Raycom creates original feature
programming such as Football Saturdays. Raycom is the syndicated
rightsholder of Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball and football
since 1982, and manages live television broadcasting, original
programming, archival footage, mobile applications, social media, the
official ACC website and the ACC Official Corporate Champions program.
Raycom also serves as the digital content, marketing, video and
broadcast production partner of The Basketball Tournament (TBT). Raycom
manages client activations and hospitality at ACC FanFest at the ACC
Football Championship and ACC Basketball Tournaments.

Raycom Sports' parent company Raycom Media, owns and/or provides
services for 65 television stations and 2 radio stations located in 20
states covering 16% of U.S. television households.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in
this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment's expectations,
plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including
statements about the dates and features of Heroes of the Dorm 2018, the
Tespa Collegiate Series—StarCraft, and the Hearthstone Collegiate
Championship, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause
Blizzard Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially from
those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this
release include unanticipated product delays and other factors
identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard's most
recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports
on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based
upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision
Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard
Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update
any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed
to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These
statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard
Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control
and may cause actual results to differ materially from current
expectations.

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